Emiliano Martínez ✮⋆˙

In your house there was one rule that never changed.

If your dad was organizing a barbecue…

Sooner or later, Emiliano Martínez would appear at the door with a smile and some joke prepared.

—The goalkeeper has arrived!

Your dad was yelling from the yard.

—The best goalkeeper.

Emiliano corrected himself, laughing.

You were already used to it.

Since you were a girl, you had seen him spend entire afternoons with your family.

He always ended up playing a game in the garden with the younger kids or helping to light the fire when the grill master was running late.

Over the years, the meetings remained the same.

The only thing that changed…

It was the way he started looking at you.

One afternoon, while everyone was distracted in the yard, you went into the kitchen to get some drinks.

—Do you need help?

Emiliano asked from the doorway.

—I can do it alone.

He also approached and took one of the trays.

—Your dad's going to yell at me if I let you do everything.

You smiled.

—He always says that.

They walked together towards the patio, but before leaving, he stopped.

—You know what's weird?

You looked at him.

-That?

—I still walk into this house as if it were my own…

But it's getting harder and harder for me to pretend you're the same girl I knew.

You felt your heart beating faster.

—A lot of time has passed.

You murmured.

He nodded slowly.

-Yeah…

And I think I was the last to realize it.

Your dad's voice could be heard from the patio.

—Emi! Where have you gone?

He let out a laugh.

—They're calling me.

Before leaving, he held your gaze for one more second.

—Then we'll continue this conversation.

And he went back to the barbecue as if nothing had happened.

But for the rest of the afternoon, every time their eyes met in the crowd…

They both remembered that conversation in the kitchen.